


Chaos Theory

by SadSpottedPanda



Category: BLACKPINK (Band), EXO (Band), NCT (Band), Red Velvet (K-pop Band), TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Angst, Attempted Murder, Betrayal, Danger, Duplicity, EXO - Freeform, Espionage, Fights, Jisoosthumbs, K-pop References, Mentioned Other K-pop Artist(s), Mind Control, Murder, Other, Red Velvet, The Cube - Freeform, The Diamond Race, based on a youtube series, blackpink - Freeform, nct - Freeform, nct 127, twice
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:28:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24097345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SadSpottedPanda/pseuds/SadSpottedPanda
Summary: The destruction of the Neo Cube Technology and SuperM was the end of Taemin's iron grip on SM. As EXO, Blackpink, and Unit 127 focus on finding the lost members of RVX, they're led down another dark, twisted path of treachery and betrayal. This time, they may not make it out alive.Inspired by Jisoosthumbs' hit espionage trilogy on YouTube - The Diamond Race, The Cube, and Duplicity
Kudos: 11





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Jisoosthumbs for letting me base this work on her trilogy. Check them out here:
> 
> 1\. The Diamond Race - https://youtu.be/-8A-AmcLy0A  
> 2\. The Cube - https://youtu.be/9_UbB_67eWw  
> 3\. Duplicity - https://youtu.be/U9RjDsT0-nE
> 
> I highly recommend watching these in order first (especially The Cube and Duplicity), or you might get lost. This prologue takes place at the end of Duplicity
> 
> \--------------------------------------
> 
> It was the end. The SuperM project was dead, but Taemin had taken Jennie hostage in the SM building's penthouse as a last-ditch desperate move. Kai had to put an end to this before he took another life. But was he too late?

Kai bursts through the doors of the CEO's office and winces. Taemin smirks as he holds Jennie at gunpoint.

"Taemin, wait!"

"Y'know, it isn't fair. You took away the NCT. Then you destroyed my SuperM project. You were my favorite agent, too."

The cold gun barrel presses even harder into Jennie's temple.

"You betrayed me, Kai. You betrayed SM and all of Korea. That technology was going to be the pinnacle of our success."

"Of what success?!" Kai shouts. "You call abducting and cloning your own agents to play guinea pig a success?!"

Taemin chuckles. "Those guinea pigs would've been very useful. As you know, we're surrounded by threats right now. We coul'dve been primed to defend against any of them if you hadn't ruined everything."

"That's bullshit. Defending isn't the same as having your toys invade North Korea and starting a war!"

"I'm sorry to hear we're not on the same page, but..." Taemin presses the trigger lightly "...consider your debt repaid."

Kai makes a run for Jennie. Moments layer, a gunshot echoes through the abandoned hallways. Jennie falls into Kai's arms as he gasps in bewilderment. He looks up at Taemin and watches him stumble back, a growing stain of blood turning his white shirt into crimson.

Lisa appears from the dark hallway, puts the gun down, and walks to Kai and Jennie.

"I was hoping he would shut up, but he kept talking." she says, slightly annoyed.

Kai sighs. "Jesus, Lisa. A little warning next time, please."

Lisa smiles and crouches beside them. She pinches Jennie's shoulder playfully.

"O..OW!" Jennie turns and makes eye contact with Lisa. "Oh my god...what was that for?!"

"Had to make sure you were alive. C'mon. Everyone's waiting."

Jennie pouts, but is relieved. Kai helps her up and chuckles. "Is that how she usually says hello?"

Lisa calls from the door "Jennie seemed like she was enjoying being in your arms too much, Kai. I got jealous."

Jennie's ears turn red and she gives Lisa a death stare. Lisa leaves, laughing. Kai begins to ask what that was supposed to mean when Jennie gets up in a huff and follows Lisa. A furious clacking of heels and screaming follows.

Kai shrugs and grins to himself. Jennie did fit nicely in his arms. He turns to Taemin, sprawled out on the floor, eyes wide open. He puts his hand up to them and closes them. It was a pitiful end to someone he looked up to.

With Taemin dead and the crisis over, Suho and Irene turned themselves in and were detained. Yeri seemingly vanished into thin air. With RVX still missing and SM still in shambles, the remaining agents got to work piecing things back together. Things were beginning to look up...or so they thought.


	2. Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After running in circles for 6 months, Xiumin still refuses to accept the fact that RVX may be dead. Fortunately, Rosé discovers a clue that's been hiding under their noses the whole time. Can they still save RVX or is it too late?

“Did you find anything?” Xiumin asks.

Rosé sighs. “Nothing. Nothing we don’t already know.” She pauses. “Xiumin...it’s been 6 months. I know you want to find them, and we’re right behind you, but...don’t you think it’s possible that they’re...”

“NO!” Xiumin slams his hand on the table. “Sorry, Rosé. I didn’t mean to shout. I...I just don’t want to think of that possibility.”

Ever since he was rescued from Taemin’s clutches, Xiumin’s been sleeping less and working on finding RVX more. After all, he helped train them. 3 bubbly girls who could’ve passed as those bright idols who sing and dance on stage turned into svelte women with deadly skills under his guidance. They never lost their real personalities though and were often the source of much-needed happiness...or chaos...in SM’s serious halls.

Rosé pats Xiumin’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’re not going to give up, but you need some rest. C’mon, let’s take a break.”

Xiumin groans, but he knows Rosé was right. He’s been running on fumes for a while and he won’t be able to continue searching if he blacks out. He follows her out to the main lounge and plops down on a sofa, almost instantly falling asleep. Chen and Baekhyun, who were playing table tennis on the other side of the room glance at Xiumin, concerned. Rosé puts a blanket over him and walks over to the boys.

“Well, at least I got him out of his office for once”

“Thanks, Rosé.” Baekhyun says.

Rosé nods. “Well, I’m off to see the girls. Make sure he stays there for a bit. I don’t think he’s slept in at least 3 days.”

She walks off and the boys continue playing.

“I feel sorry for Xiumin,” Chen says. “He’s been blaming himself for RVX going missing.”

Baekhyun fends off the ball “He was very close to them, so yeah...they mean a lot to him.”

“I get it, but they haven’t gotten in contact with us ever since the whole Taemin and SuperM thing ended. Even with the help of Blackpink and other agencies, we haven’t found even one clue”

“They couldn’t have just vanished into thin air, and they’re definitely not dead.”

The ball whizzes past Chen and hits the wall. “How do you know, though? How do any of us know that they’re still alive?”

Baekhyun crosses his arms. “I just know. They have to be alive.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sound of metal clashing against metal rings throughout the cavernous hall. Two women dressed in black are in an intense tango of blades.

The woman with 2 daggers hisses. “This is the last time you cross me.”

“That’s a pity. I was looking forward to another duel.” says the one with the katana.

They rush at each other, blades drawn. Daggers meet katana as the duel continues. From the shadows, another woman in black watches intently, studying the moves and forms of the battling duo. Finally, the one with the daggers is disarmed, her weapons cleanly swiped with the quick slashes of the Japanese blade. Enraged, she leaps and kicks the katana out of the other woman’s hands, the sword embedding itself on a wooden post. The battle of blades becomes a battle of kicks and punches. As the onlooker continues to observe, a door opens and a cheerful voice calls out.

“GUYS! I brought JOKBAAAAL!”

The fighting immediately stops and the women in black rush to the newcomer. Grunts and shouts are replaced by high-pitched squeals of glee.

“OMG we thought you’d never come!”

“We’re starving! Thank god!”

Rosé grins as Lisa and Jisoo take the jokbal away to their lounge. She begins to follow them, then looks up at the shadows.

“Jennie! I know you’re there. C’mon, let’s eat!”

Jennie groans and runs out of the dark corner. “How could you see me from down there?! I was trying to be stealthy!”

“Sweetie, you can’t be stealthy with Swarovski around your neck. I could see that necklace twinkling from a mile away” Rosé teases.

The two laugh and join Lisa and Jisoo. When asked how practice went, Lisa was the first to jump up.

“She almost cut my bangs off!” Lisa says, pointing to Jisoo while holding a bone in her other hand.

Jisoo grunts “Ay. That’s because you never cut them.”

Lisa gasps. “YOU ACTUALLY WENT FOR MY BANGS?!”

The bickering continues until Lisa and Jisoo exhaust themselves. They sprawl out on the massive pink sofa and catch their breath.

“So how did the visit to SM go?” Jennie asks Rosé.

“We tried our best, but we still haven’t been able to find any clues about RVX.”

Lisa chimes in, “Was anything ever found in the holding facility where the other SM agents were being held?”

“We interviewed every one of the agents and did multiple sweeps of the area, but we never really found anything. Apparently RVX was taken somewhere else” Jisoo adds.

“But where would Taemin have held them? The last time they were heard from, they were investigating a facility that turned out to be nothing but an old kimchi factory. That place was clean too.” Lisa says.

Rosé’s deep in thought “The Kimchi factory, huh?”

She pulls up a graphic of the last known location of RVX. It’s on the foot of a hill with a dense forest behind it. She pulls up the search reports and goes through each one.

Jennie asks, “Thought of something, Rosé?”

“Something’s been bugging me about this place ever since it was searched” Rosé stands and paces the floor. The other girls look at each other, wondering what was going through Rosé’s head. They’re about to tell her to think about it later when she snaps her fingers and runs back to the computer. She types and clicks rapidly, pulling up search engines and history websites.

“I got it! When the Japanese occupied Korea, a lot of people dug tunnels to either hide in or escape from the Japanese. Some of these were massive, but most of them have been filled in or caved in. But look...”

Rosé turns the screen to the girls. It was a map of the search area overlaid with the outlines of tunnels leading from the factory to the hills.

“Maybe RVX found a way into these tunnels, then discovered something. They could still be trapped in there!”

Lisa’s dumbfounded. “Wait...how did you come up with this idea? We never found an entrance to any tunnels.”

“A museum trip. They barely mentioned the tunnels, but I’m glad I remembered it. Let’s let EXO know. We might just find RVX.”

Jisoo throws a pillow in Rosé's direction. "Since when were you interested in museums if not to steal jewels and stuff?"

Rosé catches the pillow and throws it back. "I'll have you know I appreciate the arts even when I'm not stealing anything!"

Another pillow is launched from Lisa's direction. "Maybe there was aboy you wanted to impress. Hmm?"

"I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR BOYS!"

Pillows start flying from three directions and the bickering intensifies. Jennie sighs and sets up a video call with EXO. Kai takes the call and grins. "Well, I'm flattered to get a call from such a beautiful lady, how can-". He sees pillows shooting across the screen behind Jennie and raises an eyebrow. "Is...everything alright there?"

"Well..." Jennie ducks to avoid a pillow and continues as if nothing's happening. "We may just have found a clue to RVX's whereabouts. Can you gather everyone?"

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Tunnels?” Kai asks

“Yes, precisely” Rosé says. “RVX might’ve been exploring those tunnels when they went missing.”

Sehun sighs and leans forward. “How did we miss this?”

Jennie quips. “It wasn’t exactly something we were looking for. We had no idea they were there in the first place and we never found anything either.”

With that small glint of hope that RVX may be alive, EXO and Blackpink meet up at the kimchi factory and start sweeping the area for any signs of an entrance to the tunnels beneath them. An hour passes, then two, then six.

“We haven’t found anything yet...” D.O. says before finishing a bottle of water in one go.

Lay wipes the sweat from his forehead. “We just need to look harder, that’s all.”

Chanyeol climbs the hill behind the factory. The forest nearly blocks out the sunlight as he walks further in. Tired, he leans on a large boulder and closes his eyes for a few seconds. A weak breeze glides across his neck, startling him. He looks around and the breeze disappears. There was no wind today, so he wonders where the breeze came from. He leans back on the boulder and tries to relax a bit when the breeze hits him again. He calls out, “Xiumin? Sehun? Guys? C’mon, don’t do this now...”

Nobody answers. If it wasn’t a prank by the boys, then it must be a ghost, right? Chanyeol laughs at the stupid idea of ghosts when the breeze hits him for a third time as he leans on the boulder. He’s now visibly panicking, his gun drawn. “I...I come in peace. I...I’m just looking for my f...f...friends.” He slowly turns, expecting to see a ghost sitting on the boulder, but instead, sees nothing...except a cut in the rock that was expelling air.

“Huh...rocks don’t breathe...what the...” 

He then notices some words on the upper lip of the opening.

“Exhaust 02. An exhaust pipe? What the hell is an exhaust pipe...”

Then the fact hits him and he runs out of the forest, shouting.

Back at the kimchi factory, Blackpink and the boys have regrouped.

Rosé’s distraught. “We’ve searched everywhere. I guess the tunnel entrance isn’t here. I could swear that my intel was right...”

Xiumin was visibly upset, like he lost all hope, but he looked up and smiled in order not to upset Rosé. “Thanks for trying, Rosé. Maybe we should call it a-”

“I FOUND IT I FOUND IT! GUYS! THE TUN-”

Chanyeol bursts out of the forest and straight into the group. All of their guns were drawn and pointing at him.

“-nel”

Everyone breathes a sigh of relief.

“Jesus Chanyeol! We were wondering where you were! Don’t just come screaming out of nowhere like that!” Sehun punches him in the shoulder.

Jisoo slaps him on the arm “I never miss a target, you know!”

Everyone takes their turn hitting the poor man, groaning at how they could’ve killed him and how he sounded like some crazy psycho murderer freak.

Kai clears his throat. “Now that we’re all even, can you tell us where you were all this time, Chanyeol? We didn’t find anything and we’re calling it a day.”

“Wait...I found an exhaust vent in the forest...” Chanyeol protests. “It might be linked to the tunnels Rosé mentioned. Follow me.”

They waste no time following Chanyeol up the hill to the boulder. “This is it...”

D.O. examines the vent and traces a crack from the edge of the vent to the other side of the boulder. “Guys, this whole rock is covering a ventilation shaft. Or rather...the ventilation shaft was drilled through the rock, There’s no opening up top, so it must’ve been drilled from below”

“How are we supposed to get in then?” asks Lisa.

“Maybe these can help?” Rosé holds up a plastic explosive in each hand. “I brought them along, just in case”

Rather than figure out how Rosé managed to acquire, much less bring, military-grade explosives, Kai takes them and places them on the rock. He sets the detonator and tells everyone to fall back. Seconds later, a thunderous explosion shakes up the entire forest. Everyone peeks out from their hiding spots, and examines the result. The rock was pulverized, exposing a shaft with a ladder.

Baekhyun stares into the void. “Okay. Kai, Jennie, Jisoo...come with me. Rosé and Lisa, track our location and vitals. Everyone else, be on the lookout. We don’t know what’s down there and the lesser we are, the better. Just in case something happens, we’ll be counting on you for backup. We’ll be in touch via Comwatch every 10 minutes.”

Nobody questions Baekhyun’s orders and nods. The sub-unit then begins their descent into the tunnels below them.

Baekyun whispers. “Hang on, girls. We’re coming.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't intend to add lighthearted moments this early, but I couldn't help myself. Hope you enjoyed the first official chapter of Chaos Theory. More to come soon!


	3. Ghosts of the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kai, Baekhyun, Jennie, and Jisoo split up and continue the search for RVX underground. As info on RVX and come to light, the entire team is put in danger as the ghosts of SM's dark past threaten to take them out.

The vent cover falls to the floor with a noisy clang. Baekhyun drops down, followed by Jennie, Jisoo, and Kai. The tunnel is pitch black and eerily silent. The group turns on their shoulder lights and looks around. The “tunnel” turns out to be a utility hallway lined with pipes with both ends disappearing into the darkness.

“Should we split up?” Jennie asks.

Baekhyun nods. “We can cover more ground that way. Anyone want to join me?”

Jisoo moves over to his side. “Let’s go to the left. Kai and Jennie, take the right. Everyone good with that?”

“Yeah. Stay cautious and keep in touch, alright? Let’s meet back here in an hour.”

After several minutes, Rosé’s voice comes over Kai and Jennie’s earpieces. “Hey. Jennie, your vitals are showing an increased heart rate. You okay?”

Kai nudges Jennie and teases her about being afraid of the dark. She retorts, saying that it’s cold.

Lisa chimes in “Your body temperature’s fine. You’re definitely afraid of the dark”

Jennie pouts and she pinches Kai as he laughs. The hallway then opens up into a large room with more pipes and mechanical equipment.

“A ventilation room. And it’s a big one.” Kai says. “Say, Rosé. Do you have any intel on what’s down here?”

Rosé apologises, “I’m as blind as you are, sorry, but we’re tracking you and mapping out the place as you go.”

“That sounds like a line in one of Baekhyun’s video games.” Kai chuckles. “Thanks Ro-”

He’s barely finished his sentence when they hear a groan coming from the darkness. A guttural, low sound that sends shivers down Kai’s spine. He and Jennie slowly move closer to the source of the sound, guns drawn. The groaning continues and Jennie sees a human figure slumped against the wall. She quickly holsters her gun and runs to the person. His skin’s almost a pale gray, but he’s otherwise alive. She crouches and tries to examine him for any injuries.

“Hey! Hey! Are you alright? Don’t worry, help’s here. Lisa, Rosé, come in!”

Lisa answers, “Hey Jennie! What’s up? Did you find anything?”

“A person! There’s someone here and they’re in really bad shape.”

“Okay, calm down. Can you put your watch against their wrist? I’ll check their vitals”

Jennie does as she’s told, and there’s silence on Lisa’s end. Moments later, Lisa’s voice comes in.

“Jennie, are you sure that person’s alive?”

“Alive? What do you mean? Of course he is! He’s in real pain right now.”

“I’m not getting any readings on him. I can read all of your vitals down there, but this guy’s just showing as a flat line.”

“That doesn’t make sense...”

Jennie and Kai get a good look at the man with their shoulder lights. He’s wearing tactical gear, like an exosuit, but there’s a huge chunk of it missing. Part of his torso’s exposed, revealing a deep cut caked in dried blood. He groans again and lunges straight for Jennie.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jisoo and Baekhyun are silent as they follow the hallway. It’s a bit awkward since they don’t talk that often, but Baekhyun decides to break the ice.

“This reminds me of the place I first met you. Who knew we’d be a team at that time.”

Jisoo chuckles. “Yeah. You gave me a pretty good bruise back then...or three”

“Sorry. We didn’t know you were actually going to be on our side eventually. If I did, I would’ve taken it easy on you.”

“Well that wouldn’t have been fun! I haven’t had a fight like that in a while. I also haven’t been thrown through a door, so thanks for the experience.” Jisoo nudges Baekhyun and he laughs. “Well to be fair, you were able to throw me through a wall with that slim body, so I had to return the favor.”

The two continue talking about their previous encounters until they reach a door. They decide to investigate and find a room filled with shelves stacked to the top with files. Thinking they might find some useful info about the place, they begin scouring the room and going through documents.

Baekhyun brings us Lisa on the Comwatch. “Lisa, we found something. It looks like an archives room. We’ll look around. How’s the other team doing?”

“Aside from Jennie being afraid of the dark, they’re doing fine.”

“She’s afraid of the dark? Wasn’t her codename Shadow Mistress or something?”

“Yup. Until now, we have no idea why.”

Jisoo appears with a box of files and sets them down on a table. “I wanted to call her Miss Sparkly because of all the jewels she’s stole -I mean- acquired, but Rosé started saying it rhymes with Miss Piggy, so that was the end of that.” Rosé snorts. “Rosé, you’re mic’s on!” Lisa says, half-laughing herself. The two girls go offline and Jisoo shrugs. “Those two are probably laughing on the floor right now. Anyway, this might be interesting…”

Baekhyun spreads out the contents of the box, then notices some similarities in the files. “What the...Project S.E.S, The CSJH Initiative, Plan BoA...” His eyes widen and he flips through more files. “...The SNSD Program, Agent f(x)...” He suddenly pauses and swallows.

Jisoo notices that Baekhyun has a look of horror on his face and asks, “What is it? What do these acronyms mean?” 

“These...these are agent cloning files...or at least, research notes on cloning.”

Jisoo takes a look at some of the files and her brows scrunch up in confusion. “Some of these date back to the 90s. Does that mean SM’s been trying to clone agents for more than 2 decades? Then NCT was just…”

“...Another attempt to perfect the process.” Baekhyun notices the names in each group and realizes he’s seen them on a list of missing SM agents. Some of them were even engraved into a memorial at headquarters. SM management always told them that they disappeared during missions, never returned, and were considered dead. Now he knew exactly why they had gone missing. “This...this is horrible.”

“Hey, there’s a file on RVX too.”

Baekhyun takes the file Jisoo’s handing out to him and goes through the pages. It says that subjects Seungwan, Seulgi, and Sooyoung have exhibited extreme resistance to the NCT technology. Further testing was to be conducted. He continues reading, sickened by the experiments the girls had to go through. At the end, all 3 photos of the girls were marked as terminated.

“No...That can’t be...This can’t be real...” He collapses to the floor, the strength draining from his legs. Jisoo catches him and calls Rosé. “Rosé, we’ve just come across some disturbing info…” She relays the information and asks her to patch them through to Kai and Jennie. However, there’s no response.

“They’re not picking up.” Rosé glances at Kai and Jennie’s vitals on her screen then immediately gets back to Jisoo. “Jisoo. This is urgent. Kai and Jennie’s heart rates are really fast. I can see their signals. It looks like they’re trying to run away from something, but I can’t pick up anything else.”

“Copy. Baekhyun and I are on the way back. Keep trying to get in touch with them.”

Jisoo helps Baekhyun up. “You ok? Kai and Jennie are in trouble. C’mon.”

Still stunned by the discovery, Baekhyun nods, slips the file on RVX inside his jacket, and runs after Jisoo.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kai pulls Jennie away just as the deranged man lunges at her.

“WHAT THE HELL?!” Jennie screams and draws her gun. “Sir, step away, RIGHT NOW!”

The man doesn’t listen and lunges forward again, a knife in one hand poised to strike. Kai takes his gun out and fires. The bullet lodges itself in the man’s chest, sending him staggering back. He groans, recovers, and runs towards the two again, his face in a contorted expression of rage and agony. Jennie starts shooting, but the bullets aren’t slowing the man down at all. Kai takes Jennie’s hand and starts running. They’re only a few feet away from the entrance to the hallway when the man leaps and lands in their way. He takes Kai by the shirt and throws him across the room. He then takes Jennie by the neck and starts to squeeze.

“Jennie?! Kai?! Answer me! Baekhyun and Jisoo are on the way!” Rose’s voice basically screams in Jennie’s earpiece. The man seems to have heard it and is distracted for a few seconds, giving Jennie the opportunity to kick him in the face. The man is stunned, dropping her. She scrambles to get on her feet and runs toward Kai. He’s unconscious and she tries to wake him up by slapping his face. The man lets out an inhuman roar and his eyes glow red. He throws his knife towards Jennie and runs towards her, fists bared. The knife takes out a good 2 inches of her hair as she ducks. She sees the hair fall to the floor and her blood boils.

“Bitch, you’ll regret that.”

Jennie picks up both her and Kai’s guns and starts firing a volley of bullets towards the man. When the man reaches her, she jumps and kicks him in the chest with both heeled feet, then somersaults forward. She starts shooting the man’s back and throws profanities at him to distract him from Kai’s limp body. Meanwhile, Baekhyun and Jisoo show up and immediately start firing at the target. With the combined firepower of 4 guns, the man eventually goes down, the red glow fading from his eyes.

“What the hell was that about?” Baekhyun asks, panting.

Jennie’s shaking, her guns still pointed at the now-lifeless body. “I...I don’t know. He was supposed to be dead…”

Jisoo walks up to the body and crouches down to examine it. “Tsk. Looks like someone did a number on him before we did” She points at the gash in the man’s side. “Hey, what’s this?” There’s a metallic object sticking out from one of the man’s pockets. It’s a dull silver and whatever was on it was scratched out. Jisoo pockets it and turns to Kai. He’s struggling to sit up after being slammed into a wall. Baekhyun runs over to him and helps him up. “Easy, boy. Let’s get you out of here”.

“Did you guys find anything?” Jennie asks, still visibly shaken.

Jisoo nods “We found a ton of intel, but let’s get back to the others first. Hope you’re ready for-” She’s interrupted by the sound of a door being forced open. They all look towards the door and gasp as men and women like the man they just killed come shuffling in, groaning. They’re all wearing the same kind of gear too. Baekhyun squints and notices that they’re labeled. “Yoona...Minho...Oh my god! Guys, let’s go. Now!”

They start running and reach the exhaust vent they came from. Jennie and Jisoo leave first. Once they’re gone, Baekhyun props Kai up so he can hang on to the ladder, then he follows suit. The groaning becomes louder as the crowd of undead close in. Eventually, the groaning goes quieter and quieter as he and Kai make their way to the surface. Finally, they make it out and collapse onto the ground.

Sehun grabs some water for them while Lay checks Kai for injuries.

D.O. approaches, concerned. “What happened down there? You guys look like you’ve gone through hell.”

“We might’ve well have been...” Baekhyun replies breathlessly.

Xiumin approaches Jisoo. “I’m glad you’re out. You mentioned finding something down there. What was it?”

She swallows. “Let’s get back to SM first. You’ll need to sit down for it.”

“Guys…” Chanyeol calls out and points at the entrance to the ventilation shaft. “We have company!”

Chen, the closest to the entrance barely turns when he’s thrown to the ground, a gray-skinned figure pinning him down. Three more show up and the team starts shooting at the new visitors. They snarl as the bullets embed themselves into their bodies. Lay runs and kicks the man pinning Chen down.

“Hey, need a hand?”

Chen grunts as he gets up and pulls his gun out of his holster. One of the gray-skinned women nearly impales D.O. with a rusty pipe before she’s taken down by a bullet to the head. That doesn’t kill her though, and she gets back up and makes a run for Lisa. Just as she’s about to strike, Rosé comes up from behind and bashes her in the head with a rock.

Baekhyun and Xiumin are back-to-back, fending off 2 of the gray-skinned freaks.

“I’m going to run out of ammo at this rate!” screams Xiumin.

Baekhyun grunts. “Shit, I’m out.”

One of the assailants senses this and comes running at Baekhyun, his fist balled up. Sehun jumps in and unloads an entire magazine into the man before kicking him back several times until he falls down into the ventilation shaft. He peeks down and notices several more of the gray-skins coming up the shaft. “HEY! THERE’S MORE OF THEM COMING UP!”

Rosé finishes taking out one more enemy and tosses a box of plastic explosives and detonators to Sehun. “Here! Seal that bitch up!”

Sehun catches the explosives, fixes the detonators, and throws them down the shaft. He shouts for everyone to take cover as the bombs detonate. Fire shoots out the ventilation shaft as the ground around it heaves up, then collapses back on itself. The remaining 2 gray-skinned men still alive are caught up in the explosion and torn apart. Thick smoke and dust fills the air as everyone emerges, coughing. They make their way down the hill, exhausted, where 4 men run to meet them.

“Is anyone hurt?”. One of the men calls out while the other 3 get medical kits ready.

“We’re good. Thanks, Yuta,” says D.O. “We could use some water though.”

Once everyone’s had a chance to catch their breath, Xiumin asks the 4 men, “What are you guys doing here? How did you even know we were here?”

“We were looking for you in the meeting room, then we saw your notes on the board,” says Johnny, one of the men.

Yuta adds, “We figured you might need some backup, so me, Johnny, Ten, and Mark decided to come over”

Ten chimes in. “We looked around and didn’t find anything. We thought you might’ve already found the tunnels, so we decided to wait.”

“Then there was that HUGE explosion! Birds were flying everywhere! And the smoke! It could probably be seen from Seoul!” Mark says, a little too excitedly. Yuta nudges his shoulder and shakes his head.

Xiumin smiles. “Thanks for coming out all the way here. Turns out we did need you guys. Any injuries, Ten?”

“Aside from some scrapes and cuts, nothing too bad. There’s going to be some bruising on some of you, though.”

Johnny suggests that they drive everyone back to headquarters. Xiumin agrees and gathers everyone for the ride back. As the cars leave the area, Baekhyun glances back at the hill with a look of sadness. The file on RVX in his jackets nudges up against his chest. He thinks to himself, "How the hell am I going to break the news to everyone?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes. Zombies. Hahaha. Just kidding.
> 
> This chapter was difficult, but hopefully enjoyable. I finished Resident Evil 3 Remake recently and thought "Hey, I should throw in a creepy underground setting in because why not?"
> 
> I promise that some of the things that happened here are going to make sense in the next chapter. I hope to have it out by tomorrow, so keep an eye out for it!


	4. Evanescence

Johnny clears his throat. “The tunnels you found were part of a larger abandoned SM research facility.”

“This is why it never showed up during the mass database search we conducted last year,” says Ten. “It was probably erased from the system while Taemin still had control of SM.”

Yuta adds, “This is also how the old management was planning on removing all evidence of Project Genesis X, NCT, and SuperM before we escaped with the information.”

“As for the facility, it was-” Mark starts.

Baekhyun interrupts him, “A research facility dedicated to cloning SM agents.”

There’s an uneasy silence in the conference room. Baekhyun stands and takes out the file on RVX he and Jisoo found. He lays it on the table and opens it. “This is a file on what happened to RVX when they found the facility.” The high-tech table scans the files and projects the contents onto the screen on the other end of the room. As everyone takes in the new information, the feeling of dread creeps in slowly until they reach the end.

Tears start falling down Xiumin’s face. “This can’t be right...” He gets up and shouts in frustration. “THIS ISN’T RIGHT!”

Sehun and Chanyeol move to his side to try and comfort him, but they themselves can’t stop themselves from tearing up with him.

“That monster...he killed them...” Rosé whispers, unable to move.

“SM’s been killing its own agents for years,” Baekhyun says, his fists clenched. “While we were down there, we found other files just like this. SM’s been investing in cloning technology and conducting research for years. That memorial in the courtyard with the names is basically a list of everyone who was used for experimentation. Those agents never disappeared while on a mission. Someone deployed them, had them kidnapped, and experimented on.”

Jisoo places the metallic object she took from the gray-skinned man who attacked Jennie and Kai on the table. The table scans it and projects the image and profile of a person on the screen. “I found this earlier. I had a feeling it was important, and it looks like I was right.” She reads the info out. “Kim Kibum. Shawol Unit. An SM agent. Those gray-skinned people we fought were those who SM kidnapped over the years.”

“How’s that possible? All of them had fatal injuries and should be dead, but they were alive and fighting like they were enraged.” Kai rubs his forehead. “This doesn’t make sense.”

Mark glances at Yuta, Johnny, and Ten, seemingly wanting to say something, but not wanting to interrupt the senior agents. Chen notices this and gestures for him to share what’s on his mind.

“Sorry for interrupting, but I might have an answer for agent Kai...hyung” He starts off awkwardly, recounting the time when Unit 127 was sent on a mission. They were supposed to shadow a suspected gang dealing in illegal drugs, but Taeyong and Jungwoo disappeared during the operation.

“A few weeks after they disappeared, Jungwoo showed up at my house. He was badly injured. He kept telling me about how he and Taeyong had stuff injected into them, then they were forced to fight each other. After a few days, Taeyong died. The researchers called him a failure and dumped his body. Jungwoo then tried to escape, but he ran into Taeyong...he was alive, but his eyes were red. He tried to take Taeyong with him, but Taeyong attacked him, so he fled and left him.” Mark struggles to continue. “He was asking for my help...I thought he was just imagining things because of his injuries, so I brought him to a hospital. I...I never saw him again after that. Then Project Genesis X and NCT happened and we went into hiding with Blackpink”

Everyone’s speechless. The fact that more than a dozen agents were needlessly killed to fuel a decades-long mad project was unbelievable. Jennie breaks the silence with an even more unbelievable theory. “We never saw RVX among those...people...in the tunnels. What if they’re not dead and this is just another one of Taemin’s plans to derail us? He was able to fool you guys for the longest time. Also, we threw a wrench in his plans and stopped his projects.” She knows it’s a longshot, but she was sick of feeling hopeless. “I don’t have any evidence to back any of this up and it’s way too optimistic, but for all we know, RVX could still be out there, waiting for help.”

Xiumin looks up, his eyes still red from tears. Among everyone in the room, he’s been carrying the heaviest weight. RVX disappeared because he thinks he wasn’t quick enough, didn’t do enough, didn’t work enough. He believes he’s the reason they’re gone and it’s been burdening him ever since. Even when he was kidnapped and nearly turned into one of those superhuman monstrosities, he never stopped thinking of RVX. “She’s right...We can’t just sit here and say it’s over yet.” He turns to the members of Unit 127. “You’ll help us, right?” They all nod and Xiumin manages a small smile.

“Okay, we better think this though, but let’s all go home for now and meet up tomorrow.” Rosé suggests. “We had a long day and it won’t help if we’re exhausted.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The courtyard at SM was a tranquil park with flowering plants and an assortment of small, lush trees. In the center was a large, modern fountain with gentle-flowing water. Tall cherry blossoms tower over everything else, their branches and pink flowers reflected in the black glass walls surrounding the space. On the far end is a pair of black marble slabs, their surfaces engraved with the names of SM agents lost in operations. A gold plate in the center reads “Your courage and dedication will never be forgotten.”

Sehun scoffs at the inscription and looks up at the names. He shakes his head, wondering how their own agency could inhumanely betray them, and right under their own noses too. Some of these people were his friends. He clearly remembers the memorial services that were held when an agent was declared dead. If only he knew what was happening back then, he would’ve done something.

A voice calls out from behind Sehun. “It’s a bit cold out here, don’t you think?”

He whirls around, startled by the person’s presence. “Ah, Chen. Don’t scare me like that.”

Chen smiles and puts an arm around Sehun’s shoulders. They stare at the memorial together, the mood somber.

“Why don’t I feel...satisfied?” Sehun whispers, “We’ve shuttered the cloning and human enhancement projects and cleaned up the organization. That bastard Taemin’s also dead. Even after all that...I don’t feel I can tell them that we’ve brought them justice.”

Chen pats Sehun’s back. “I know how you feel, but I like to think they’re glad we stopped many other names from being added here.” He moves closer to the monument and reaches out, gently drawing his finger over a name. “I know she would’ve had.”

They spend a bit more time by the memorial, chatting about the memories they had with some of the lost agents - laughing about the time they had a company party and someone knocked the multi-tiered cake over or that day when everyone was in a foul mood because someone decided to spike the kimbap with too much salt as a prank.

“Feel better now?” Chen asks.

Sehun nods. “Yeah, thanks.” He falls silent for a bit then says, “We helped keep RVX’s names off this memorial, but they might as well be here since they’re still missing.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll find them. We won’t give up until we do.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lisa, Jennie, Jisoo, and Rosé are starving. From discovering secret tunnels, to nearly getting killed by raging agents of the dead, narrowly avoiding being blown up to bits, and despairing during an emotional rollercoaster of a meeting, they’ve been through one hell of a day and decide to give themselves the luxury of an actual dinner - something they haven’t had together in awhile. They head to a small restaurant in an alley and order almost everything off the menu, to the sweet ajumma's delight.

Jennie sighs and leans back on the chair. “I hope we find them soon.”

“You’re not mad at Wendy for knocking you out?” Lisa says.

“Not really,” Jennie rolls her eyes, remembering the fight they had when RVX infiltrated their hideout. She got a really nasty bruise out of it. “Well, maybe a little.”

Rosé leans forward and rests her chin on her hands. “We never got to tell them what was happening. If only we got the chance, they wouldn’t be missing. All those experiments that were done on them...it just makes me angry.”

“Hey, let’s not start blaming ourselves. It’s unfortunate SM got their hands on them first, but it’s not like we could’ve done anything else. We were also dealing with EXO back then, too. Now that we’re all on the same side, we have a better chance of finding them.” Jisoo tries to cheer them up.

The food comes out and they decide to let the matter rest for now. Jisoo was right. All they can do now is move forward. As they tuck into a nicely grilled plate of beef, Lisa hears muffled screaming from outside.

“Do you hear that?” She asks.

They quiet down and listen. There’s definitely something going on outside.

“I’ll check it out.” Lisa exits the restaurant, the screaming intensifying as she steps out into the alley. Police sirens are blaring in the distance and people are running past the alley, screaming. “What the hell is happening?” she asks herself before calling the others out. As they slowly make their way onto the main street, they hear a thud from behind them, followed by an all-too-familiar groaning sound. They turn around and see a gray-skinned person staring menacingly at them. They back away cautiously, hands slowly reaching out for their guns. They’ve barely drawn them when the man starts to run at them. Shots are fired and he goes down, his head peppered with bullet holes.

“How...how did they get here?! How are they even still alive?!” Rosé exclaims.

Jennie grabs her arm and pulls her away. “I don’t know, let’s just get out of here.”

Jisoo tries to raise EXO on her Comwatch, but she doesn’t get a reply. “Shit, they’re not answering.”

As they finally reach the main street, they’re greeted with a scene of utter chaos. Cars have plowed into each other, the police are directing civilians, and helicopters fly overhead. In the distance, a giant explosion lights up the sky, sending debris and a fireball up into the air. Jennie stops one of the panicking pedestrians and asks what’s happening.

“ZOMBIES!” He screams. “AN ARMY OF ZOMBIES!”

Jennie looks at the direction the man was running from and sees them. Hundreds of them. Some are leaping from car to car. Others are running on the walls of buildings. Anyone in their way is viciously mowed down. With all of their eyes glowing, it’s like a sea of red, and it’s heading straight for them. The police further down the street start firing, but they’re quickly overwhelmed. They start running the other way with Jisoo still frantically trying to contact EXO. Finally, they lose the hoard and catch their breath.

“We better head back to SM,” Rosé suggests. They all agree and hurriedly make their way to the building. When they get there, it looks like a war zone. The lobby is completely destroyed, with the chandeliers on the floor and furniture torn apart and upended. Thankfully, the elevators are still working and they make their way up to EXOs offices on the top floor. When the doors open, they reveal the aftermath of a huge fight. The lights are out, so they carefully make their way to the lounge and find D.O. on the floor. His blood is splattered all over the wall. Jisoo tries to take his pulse, but she doesn’t feel anything. She looks at the others and shakes her head. In the kitchen, Jennie finds Lay and Sehun bleeding from mortal wounds on their necks. Rosé makes her way to the conference room and immediately averts her eyes from the gruesome scene. She regroups with the others, her heart pounding.

“I found Kai, Chen, and Baekhyun in the conference room...they’re gone too...” Rosé says in a shaky voice.

As they try to process the situation, they hear a scream from down one of the hallways.

“That’s Baekhyun!” Jisoo shouts as the group rushes towards the office of the president. They burst through the door and just in time to see a woman hurling Baekhyun out of a window, his body landing on the street 55 floors below. On the other side of the room, another woman has Xiumin in a chokehold. He reaches out to them. Lisa prepares to fire at the woman when she snaps Xiumin’s neck.

“NO!” Lisa screams and starts shooting. The others also draw their guns and try to take the women down, but they’re too fast. One of them manages to get behind Jennie and put her fist right through Jennie’s chest. Jisoo screams as Jennie drops to the ground, but she’s silenced by the other woman with a brutal kick to the head, breaking her neck. Lisa and Rosé barely manage to get out of the way as a third woman rushes in from the doorway, knives glinting from between her knuckles. She turns to Rosé, who gets slashed across the chest and abdomen. She staggers back, the blood seeping through her clothes, until the third woman kicks her through the window.

The three women approach Lisa, their eyes glowing a menacing red. As they come into the moonlight streaming in from the window, Lisa’s eyes grow in horror. She’s frozen in place as they all come for her and everything fades to black.

Moments later, Lisa opens her eyes. Her head is spinning and she struggles to get up. As her vision clears up, she finds herself on the large pink sofa in Blackpink’s lounge. A sweet, delicious smell fills her nostrils and she’s jolted awake. She checks herself for any injuries and looks around. Rosé emerges from the kitchen with two cups of tea.

“Hey. Did you rest well?” Rosé sits down beside her.

Lisa’s visibly confused. “You’re alive...ughhh.” She clutches her head.

Rosé nods and smiles, “Yes? Still hungover huh?” She hands Lisa one of the cups. “Here, this should help.”

“Hungover? What happened last night?” Lisa sips the tea and feels the cloudiness around her brain clear up a little.

“We and some of the guys went for dinner and a drink. You downed a lot of soju. We basically had to drag you home after.”

“Oh.”

“Big oh.”

“Jennie and Jisoo? Are they okay?”

“They’re still asleep, but not because of alcohol.” Rose chuckles. “Were you having a nightmare? You were creaming in your sleep before you woke up.”

“Yeah. A really fucked up nightmare. I’d rather forget what I saw.”

Rosé’s curious and ready to probe when her phone rings. She takes the call, the voice on the other end rising in excitement with each sentence.

“MARK!” she raises her voice. “Calm down, sweetie. What’s going on?” The call goes on for several minutes and ends with an urgent tone.

”Lisa, get ready. Something came up. I’ll get the others.” Rosé says in a serious tone before turning and leaving the lounge.

Still slightly groggy, Lisa groans and tries to get up. She fails and drifts off to sleep in a sleeping position when Rosé screams from another room, “OY, I CAN FEEL YOU SLEEPING LALISA! CHOP CHOP!”

“Okay! Okay! I’m up! I’m up!” Lisa scrambles, the fear of facing Rosé’s wrath instantly curing her of her hangover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the sudden not!zombie outbreak that came from nowhere. Also, the death. I couldn't think of a good way to fill in the time between everyone going home then coming back the following day so I went "Hmm. Let's give Lisa an unnecessarily-detailed nightmare fueled by trauma."
> 
> Thanks for sticking with this trainwreck of a story so far! Leave a like, leave a comment, and subscribe if you haven't yet. Don't worry, not everything's gonna be convoluted all the time!


End file.
